( 91 ) 



LETTERS. 



TUFTED DUCK BREEDING IX ESSEX AXD THE PRESEXCE 

 OF XOX-BREEDIXG BIRDS. 

 To the Editors of British Birds. 



Sirs, — Mr. Glegg's note in youi' current number (Vol. VII., p. 56) 

 concerning the nest of this species which he found beside one of the 

 reservoirs at Walthamstow on June 11th, hardly does full justice 

 to the extraordinary wealth of bird-life to be seen at times on this 

 huge assembly of reservoirs, of which there are twelve altogether, 

 covering an aggregate area of about 480 acres. 



On May 23rd, I visited the reservoirs in the company of Mr. J. 

 Mackworth Wood, the Chief Engineer of the Xorthem District of the 

 Metropolitan Water Board (to which the reservoirs belong), and 

 Mr. Edward Bidwell, when we were astonished at the number of Tufted 

 Ducks we saw. Although we did not visit all the reservoirs, we 

 estimated that we saw at least one thousand birds — all, apparently, 

 in pairs and mostly in groups of ten or twenty pairs. We did not 

 expect to find any of them nesting, as the date was too early : we 

 concluded that the majority would shortly pass on and breed else- 

 where, for the banks of the reservoirs are not of a nature to afford 

 suitable nesting-sites for a tenth part of all those we saw. No doubt 

 a large proportion of the birds did pass on, but it is clear, from what 

 Mr. Glegg says, that many remained right on into the breeding-season. 

 That a few do actually breed is evident from Mr. Glegg's statement ; 

 and Mr. Wood informs me that, since our visit, he has seen several 

 broods of Tufted Ducks on the reservoirs. That so many should 

 remain without breeding is certainly perplexing ; but . the number 

 we saw which w^ere obviously paired suggests that sterility can hardly 

 be the reason of their not breeding. 



In addition to the foregoing, we saw several Mallard with broods 

 of young, but far fewer than one might have expected. 



W^e saw also at least a dozen pairs of Great Crested Grebes, but 

 none seemed to be nesting, probably because the weeds roimd the 

 islands and banks were not sufficiently gro^A^l to provide shelter. 

 These birds have, however, bred on the reservoirs for some years past. 

 On June 20th, 1909, I saw a bird sitting on its nest ; and Mr. Wood 

 informs me that, since om* visit on May 23rd last, he has seen several 

 pairs breeding. 



On one of the small steep-sided islands, I found a Moorhen's nest 

 containing eggs, built seven or eight feet from the groimd in a dense 

 bush — the situation having been chosen, perhaps, to obtain protection 

 for the sitting bird against the depredations of otters, which abound. 



Mr. Wood informed us that, a few weeks before our visit, the amount 

 of wild-fowl on the reservoirs had been enormous^ greater than 

 what we saw. It had included then many Mallard, Teal, and Wigeon, 

 with some Golden-eye. 



That water-fowl in such numbers should frequent sheets of water 

 actually within five miles of St. Paul's Cathedral, almost surrounded 

 by a dense population, and with trains and tramcars roaring along 

 the banks of some of them, is certainly very remarkable. It should 

 be remembered, however, that the reservoirs themselves are fenced 

 and very strictly watched, so that no one can actually visit them 

 without special permission. 



